Blogging For Dollars:Why You Fail

The explosive growth in social media is forcing today’s marketers to ditch their hard sales pitches and flashy page takeover ads. While we’ve all heard the gurus say brands need to create relationships with their customers, the reality is brands need to look at themselves as publishers.
Creating content is the key component in starting a relationship with a new customer or retaining an existing one. But starting a blog, creating a Facebook fan page or launching a Twitter feed is not the be all/end all.
Social media is no field of dreams. The siteless web is the new reality, meaning businesses need to live in many places, because customers and potential customers are all over the place, all the time.
Wonder why your ad’s CTR is less then half of a percent? Don’t blame the ad network for not performing. Look in the mirror. Think of what your success rate would be if you asked every first date if they loved you.
You would never do that, right? So why do the equivalent with your advertising? A strong content strategy can bring emotion and context to your brand and bring in customers.
Put another way, the traditional – or, rather, old – model of a sales funnel went something like this: Ask for the sale. Ask for the sale. Ask for the sale. Convert.
Using content, though, today’s sales funnel has a vastly different model: Educate. Syndicate. Reinforce. Convert. Here’s a closer look at each step:
Educate: (or… tell before you sell) – Google Adsense works well because it makes an attempt to understand intent. But when you are trying to target customers outside of search, intent is harder to understand.
When a CTR on a display ad is low, it’s usually because it is placed in an environment where user intent is not well understood. Take control. Bring potential customers to you with great content that they are interested in and will seek out.
Think of content as a welcoming mat – it transcends websites, social networks and formats. Content connects consumers to you, and it’s all the more effective when it’s viral.
Syndicate: (or… sharing is caring) – Your blogs, Twitter accounts, videos, etc. might be valuable, but if nobody consumes them, they’re worthless.
Leverage these assets – and lure customers – by using platforms like Tubemogul, dlvr.it and ShareThis Each will help you manage the syndication and spread of your content across the Web.
You can (and should) also leverage content that you may not immediately identify as ad copy. Sharing information that’s useful is much more appealing and effective than jumping in their face.
When an ad with valuable content appears on a site where prospects are already in the mindset of consuming content, it’s an easy transition for them to click-through to your website and learn more.
Added bonus: Interesting content increases the multiplier effect. Fans and prospects are more likely to share content than ads. This increases word of mouth – and best of all, it lessens your marketing spend.
Reinforce: (or… trust is a must) – Once a potential prospect is aware of your brand or offering – whether by reading your blog, subscribing to your newsletter or following you on Twitter – then ask for the sale. Present them with a display ad and ask them to buy whatever you have established is going to be of use and valuable to them.
Remarketing techniques that present your offers as they travel to other websites are effective here as well. Once you’ve planted the seed, keep watering, remarket and make the sale bloom.
Convert – Using content as a key part of your sales funnel will improve your CTR and overall conversion. Need proof? Ask the folks at Louis E. Page, Inc., a wiring and fencing company just outside of Boston.
Simply by starting a blog, which offers tips and advice on how to use fencing products, the company has seen an 850 percent increase in leads.
Not a bad return for thinking outside of the traditional advertising model.

6.3 Quake Rocks Japan?NBA Game Over

TOKYO - An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 has rattled northern Japan.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said there was no danger of a tsunami. The quake occurred off the coast of the northern main island of Hokkaido at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) at 11:23 a.m. Friday (0223 GMT). The epicenter was about 280 kilometers (174 miles) east of Hokkaido.

Police official Esao Akatsuka said he received no reports of damage. He said, "Nothing fell off from bookshelves."

Mississippi River May Be Used to Stop Oil Spill

Preventing spilled oil from invading the fragile Louisiana wetlands—where it would be virtually impossible to remove without severely damaging the ecosystem—is an urgent priority of relief workers in the Gulf of Mexico. A variety of defense measures have been suggested, including the use of rocks and barges to block the oil from entering the bays, and the construction of huge sand piles that would stand 6 feet taller than the Gulf's average high-water mark and, hopefully, shield the coastline.

Last week, G. Paul Kemp, a former professor of marine science at Louisiana State University and current vice president of the National Audubon Society's Louisiana Coastal Initiative, sent a memo to the Environmental Protection Agency proposing an additional strategy, which calls for using upstream dams to increase the flow of the Mississippi River into the Gulf. Kemp says the river is "the biggest tool in the toolbox" when it comes to keeping oil out Louisiana's swamps and marshes, which make up nearly 40 percent of the nation's wetlands.

For the most part, the winds have kept the oil plume from moving toward the Louisiana coast, Kemp says, instead pushing it toward Florida and Alabama. Last month, the winds shifted to the northwest. Even then, when the oil seemed as though it should have been blowing towards the mouth of the river, it didn't, says Denise Reed, a proponent of Kemp's plan and professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of New Orleans. "That seems to be because there's been enough water coming out of the mouth of the river to have a little bit of a push out into the Gulf of Mexico," Reed says.

Since then, however, the water level in the Mississippi has dropped off drastically, due to seasonal changes in climate. "Time is of the essence. Every day we are losing another 40,000 to 50,000 cubic feet per second out of the river. I'm very concerned that all we need is a shift in the winds offshore, and when the oil comes in this time there won't be enough to keep it from coming into the interior of the marshes," Kemp says.

The water level can be raised using large concrete dams, called the Old River Control Structure, which sit 315 miles upstream from the river's mouth. These dams, which are maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, control flow between the Mississippi and a smaller tributary to the west called the Atchafalaya River. Usually, they direct about 70 percent of the water down the Mississippi, with the remaining 30 percent diverted to the Atchafalaya. Kemp's plan calls for a gradual daily increase in the amount directed to the Mississippi, so that over the course of 10 days the river's proportion would increase to about 81 percent—maintaining the approximate level of the river in May. He is also looking into manipulating additional dams even further upstream.

An additional benefit of the plan, according to Kemp and Reed, is that a higher river could help clean off the oil that has already collected on the fringes of the marshes.  This effect, called gentle flushing, is one of the few methods that can remove oil from the wetlands while minimizing ecosystem damage. "These are very soft soils and very easily disrupted, so we have to kind of be careful about too much intervention," Reed says. "If we can flow water through the marsh, we can take the oil that is attached to the stems of the plants and get it into the open water," where it is significantly easier to remove.

Amanda Jones, a spokesperson for the Army Corps of Engineers, would not speculate as to the potential benefits or drawbacks of the proposal.  "It's something we are looking into to see if it would work, and if it's feasible, but we don't have that answer yet. It's something that we're still reviewing."

No one has come forward with any major opposition to the proposal, according to Kemp, although he did say there might be concern regarding whether one of the two dams could handle the increased flow. But that would be something that could be monitored, he says. "All these things are reversible. It shouldn't be a stopper; it should just be something that we watch carefully."

5/3 Bank Robbed At Gunpoint

Fifth-Third Bank at 2927 South Rutherford Boulevard was robbed at 2:25 Thursday afternoon (6/17/2010). Murfreesboro Police spokesperson Kyle Evans told WGNS News that the suspect is a 230 pound white male with blond hair. He was wearing a brown jacket and baggy clothes. A silver pistol was used, and he escaped in a white Mazda car with gold hub cabs. Since this is a bank robbery, the FBI is working with local authorities on the case and the amount of money taken is not being released. However, it is believed that a dye pack may have exploded on the criminal. Left Photo: bank’s surveillance camera shows the robber carrying a bag for the money.

Later Afternoon Pursuit Out Manchester Highway

Police quickly set-up perimeters around the bank, but the suspect slipped through. He evidently laid-low for awhile, because shortly before 5:00 o’clock a car matching the description was spotted. A high speed pursuit began, and Murfreesboro Police called deputies from the Rutherford County Sheriffs Office to join them as the fast-moving Mazda roared out the Manchester highway. Coffee County authorities joined when the pursuit neared the county-line. Evans noted that around 5:30 the white Mazda seemed to have vanished again.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Murfreesboro Police Criminal Investigation Division at 615-893-2717. If you have any information, and would like to remain anonymous, contact CrimeStoppers at 615-893-STOP (7867). When you call CrimeStoppers, no one, not even the police—know who you are. Plus, if your tip leads to an arrest and conviction, it could be worth a cash reward of up to $1,000.

Joe the Plumber In Murfreesboro

Thinking back to the 2008 presidential election, you may recall “Joe the Plumber”, whose real name is Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, (and is in fact technically not a plumber), the middle class American who gained media attention after he was videotaped questioning Barack Obama about his small business tax policy during a campaign stop in Ohio. He has now endorsed Lou Ann Zelenik in her campaign for Sixth District Congressman from Tennessee. He is endorsing candidates who are strong fiscal conservatives, and defenders of traditional conservative values, and fittingly, Zelenik was recently named ‘Conservative of the Year” by the National Fiscal Conservative PAC. The pair are now campaigning across the 6th congressional district which brought them to the Stones River Country Club where we got them to comment on this odd partnership. If successful, Zelenik will replace 13 term Democrat Congressman Bart Gordon who announced his retirement late last year. And if you’d like to hear and meet the infamous Joe the Plumber yourself, he and Zelenik will be at Joe’s Place, located at 108 North Tatum Street in Woodbury at 2:15 tomorrow afternoon.

Funkadelic Guitarist Dead

  

Parliament Funkadelic Guitarist Gary Shider Dies http://n.pr/d55zU0

Peter Frampton's Biggest Hit

" Show Me The Way is Peter Frampton's biggest hit. It reached #6 on the US charts and #10 on the UK charts. The Live 1976 version from the album "Frampton Comes Alive" was the biggest hit of 1976 and was the biggest tour of the Summer on '76.

This is Frampton's biggest hit. It took off when he included the song on his 1976 album Frampton Comes Alive, which in the US was the best-selling album of 1976. The studio version was released as a single in 1975, but went nowhere. The live version is the hit.

On the intro to the live version, Frampton used a talkbox, a device hooked up to his guitar that allowed him to create amplified, distorted vocal sounds with his mouth. A talkbox is made with tubing connected to a compression driver (meant to be part of a P.A. system), with the other end going into the performer's mouth. The unit is then hooked up to the guitar amp.

The talkbox effect was a huge hit. Many musicians responded by buying one or trying to make their own. More than a few young people lost some cavities when they created faulty talkboxes and sent electric current into their mouths.

Frampton's songs "Baby, I Love Your Way" and "Do You Feel Like We Do" also became huge hits from his live album. These songs still get lots of airplay.

This was one of the first songs U2 performed as a group. They played it at their high school talent show using the band name Feedback.